Redefining Glamour: Gratitude Over Fear in Beauty
- Nov 19
- 3 min read
By Laura Coblentz
Founder/CEO Caraline Skincare
After more than twenty years as an executive in the natural products industry, I’ve seen nearly every kind of marketing strategy imaginable. But the one that’s always made me pause is how beauty brands talk to women as they age. Skincare is supposed to be about care—yet so much of the messaging is rooted in fear. Fear of lines. Fear of change. Fear of being seen as “less than.” It’s a strange contradiction: an industry built on wellness that so often makes women feel unwell about themselves.
At some point, I realized how exhausting it had become to be told, in a thousand subtle ways, that we were losing something. What if, instead of trying to reverse time, we simply respected it? That question became the seed of what would grow into Caraline Skincare, a small-batch, Colorado-made brand that’s about as far from “anti-aging” as it gets.
Caraline grew from the idea that skincare should start with respect for how our skin functions, not anxiety about how it looks. Our skin protects, repairs, and renews itself every day without fanfare. It deserves care that supports it, not products that promise to “fix” it. To me, that’s where real glamour lives: not in perfection, but in appreciation.
When I began formulating Caraline, I wanted products that felt honest and uncomplicated. Each is crafted in small batches here in Colorado with organic, vegan, and cruelty-free ingredients. The Daily Hydrate Face Mist blends organic rose hydrosol, niacinamide, and hyaluronic acid to replenish moisture and soothe. Daily Nourish Face Oil combines rosehip, chia, pomegranate, and sea buckthorn oils to help skin retain moisture and keep it smooth and supple. And Gentle Glow Cleansing Oil, made with camellia, papaya, and pumpkin oils, melts away buildup without stripping what skin needs to stay healthy.
Simplicity, I’ve learned, is its own sophistication. When you strip away the noise—the endless “miracle” claims and quick fixes—you make space for something far more powerful: trust.
Across the industry, this message is gaining momentum. The New York Times recently reported that searches for “age-positive skincare” have quadrupled, and a 2024 Mintel study found that 62 percent of women ages 35–65 prefer beauty messaging centered on well-being over anti-aging claims. Independent founders and public figures are helping redefine glamour through authenticity and grace. Pamela Anderson’s makeup-free appearance at Paris Fashion Week—celebrated by Vogue as “a quiet act of liberation”—epitomized this shift. Jamie Lee Curtis continues to model what “pro-aging”looks like: unapologetically real, joyfully herself, and a reminder that confidence doesn’t depend on concealment. Since launching Caraline, I’ve watched more women reject the old beauty story. They’re tired of being told they’re running out of time. They want skincare that respects them and their intelligence, not one that preys on their insecurities. That’s the real cultural shift happening right now—gratitude replacing fear as the foundation of beauty.
And it’s not just about products. It’s about perspective. When we care for our skin from a place of gratitude rather than judgment, we move differently. We become softer with ourselves. More grounded. We stop measuring our worth by the absence of lines and start celebrating the lives we’ve lived in the skin we’re in.
This holiday season, as conversations turn toward gratitude, I hope more of us see that same value in the mirror. Our skin tells a story—of laughter, weather, experience, and time. It deserves to be treated kindly.
If glamour once meant chasing youth, maybe it’s time we redefine it. To me, true glamour is quiet confidence. It’s care without fear. And it’s gratitude—for the life you’ve lived, and the skin that’s lived it with you.
Connect With Laura
Instagram: @caralineskincare
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